The Vengeant
by Morathor
Summary: A strange boy challenges Yugi for his puzzle.
1. The Stranger

NOTE: This is entirely based on the American anime; the Japanese would confuse me, and I know nothing about the first season.  
  
ADDITIONAL INFO: Akari means light in Japanese. I chose that name because Akari is often a direct counterpart to Yugi/Yami, and Yami is Japanese for darkness. Also, the Eye of Horus is different from the Eye of Anubis, which is on most Millenium Items.  
  
It was early morning, and Yugi Moto was ready for another intense day at Kaiba's Battle City Tournament... if he could just get this knot undone...  
Yugi glanced at the clock. Joey and Tea would be here any minute, but his shoelace was not cooperating with his schedule. As though in response to his worries, the small, chime-like bells attached to the door rung and someone walked in.  
"Oh!" said Yugi. "Tea and Joey must be here." Abandoning his shoelace, Yugi hurried downstairs, hoping not to embarrass himself. But as he approached, he heard his Grandpa speaking in the inviting tone he reserved for potential customers.  
"Can I help you, sir?"  
"I am looking for someone, not shopping." The voice that spoke was deep and cold, yet soft. "But, while I am in such a fine card establishment, that card looks useful."  
As Yugi walked in, he saw the boy speaking to his grandfather. Not much taller than Yugi, this boy wore a loose white T-shirt and baggy black pants-not to mention a KaibaCorp Duel Disk. But what caught Yugi's attention was this boy's face. It reminded him quite a bit of a face he saw often... indeed, every time he looked in the mirror!  
This boy's face and hair were shaped much like Yugi's, though a bit sharper. His hair was pure white, with jagged black bangs sticking out everywhere. His eyes were a sharp piercing blue. And his skin was dark, Egyptian.  
Yugi was shaken out of his thoughts by his grandpa's energetic reply to the boy. "Ah, very good, sir. Out of curiousity, who are you looking for? I might be able to help you."  
The boy shrugged. "I don't know for sure who it is... I seek he who bears the Millenium Puzzle..."  
Yugi cried out in alarm. Yet another person was after his puzzle! unfortunately, crying out drew the other boy's attention. He turned to Yugi, startled. Then his eyes fell on the Millenium Puzzle, and he smiled slightly.  
"So," said the stranger, "it is you who has the Item. I thought it would be a customer. You are Yugi Moto, champion of the Duelist Kingdom, am I right?"  
Yugi gulped, then summoned up his courage. He couldn't, and shouldn't hide from this jerk. "Yes, that's right," he said firmly "And you are?"  
The other boy bowed slightly. "I am Akari, the Vengeant. I have been chosen to avenge the wrongs that mighty Duelists can do. You have caused enough suffering, Yugi Moto, and now it's your turn to feel my wrath. Prepare to duel for your puzzle!"  
Yugi blinked, surprised. "Wait! I haven't done anything wrong! What suffering are you talking about?"  
"Don't play innocent with me," Akari said coldly. He glared at Yugi. "Two people, both with their minds shattered, with only one memory left to them: a young man with the Millenium Puzzle. Now, will you duel, or are you a coward!?"  
Yugi understood now. During the time he had owned the Millenium Puzzle, Yami had crushed the minds of several people, though all of them had deserved exactly what they got.  
I guess I'll just have to prove that to him, he thought. 


	2. Let's Duel

Joey and Tea entered Solomon Moto's card shop. Joey prepared to great his best friend, but stopped short at the sight of Yugi and another boy glaring at each other, arguing.  
"And what would you offer if I win?" Yugi asked.  
The other boy snorted. "If by some slight chance you win and save your Puzzle, then you will receive this..."  
With a sharp movement, he thrust his right hand into the air, letting the light catch on a shining silver gauntlet he wore. It was embossed with an Egyptian symbol, the Eye of Horus.  
"The Vengeance Gauntlet!"  
Yugi paused for a moment to think. This gauntlet obviously held some sort of power... but what? It was not a Millenium Item. After a little more thinking, Yugi decided to dump this problem on Yami.  
"YU-GI-OH!"  
In what seemed toYugi like a blinding flash of light, Yami joined him.  
Akari again smiled at him. "So, that is the power of your puzzle? You summon some spirit to... what, give you counsel? Helpful. Unfortunately, it will not be of any use against me."  
Yami ignored Akari's comment. "I accept your challenge! I will prove that you are wrong, and that both those men deserved what they got."  
Tea didn't like the sound of this. She decided that she would have to step in.  
"But Yugi!" she said. "What if you lose? You can't lose your puzzle!"  
"Yeah!" Joey added. "And besides, we have to go to the tournament!"  
Akari looked over at them and grinned. "I didn't know you had a cheering squad, Yugi."  
Akari quickly realized that his joke had not been appreciated. This was not hard, as Joey had responded by good-naturedly lifting him by his shirt a few feet off the floor and banging him against the wall.  
"Hey, who you calling a cheering squad?" Joey asked, angrily. "I was runner up at Duelist Kingdom! Hey, you hear me!? Come on, wipe that smirk off ya face! I could beat you with my eyes closed."  
Akari decided that, though this boy's reaction was amusing, he would rather enter the coming duel with all of his bones intact and thus found it neccessary to apologize.  
"Forgive me, good sir. I meant it as a harmless joke. I did not mean to insult your dueling talents." Akari smiled kindly as he felt his feet resume contact with the floor. He turned to Yami again. "Shall we move outside, where there's room to duel?"  
Yami nodded, and the group moved outside. Once  
"I'm ready when you are," Yami said.  
"Fine," Akari said eagerly. "Let's duel!"  
The Duel Disks set themselves up in their familiar patterns, and the duel began. This duel, however, was watched by someone other than Joey and Tea...  
  
"Mister Kaiba."  
Seto Kaiba opened his eyes. His assistants were always bothering him with useless data and questions. He needed to get out soon, find some losers to defeat, so that he woudl nto have to deal with this. "What is it?"  
"A duel is starting between two registered Duel Disks," said his assistant, "but it is not within the tournament area."  
Kaiba frowned. Who was using his Duel Disks outside of the tournament? He decided to find out. "Who are the contestants?"  
"The contestants are: Yugi Moto and Akari Ume, sir."  
"Akari? I don't recall him. Show me his profile." After a moment the profile came up. Akari looked disturbingly like Yugi, and he was a five star duelist. Kaiba looked at his rarest card, and froze. It was a very deadly monster; to Kaiba's knowledge, only 7 had ever been printed. Kaiba grinned.  
"I doubt Yugi can stand up to that. What other data do we have on this Akari?"  
"Very little," his assistant said. Kaiba glared at the man, who threw u phis hands defensively. "All our data comes from one duel against Maximillion Pegasus, in which he won on his first turn with just two cards. That might not even be his rarest card."  
"Incredible..." Kaiba said. "Let's see how Yugi does." 


	3. Duel Begins

"I'll start with the Celtic Guardian in attack mode," Yami said. "Now, your move!"  
The holographic warrior arose, standing strong. Akari looked at it, then shrugged and drew a card from his deck. As he did so, the eye on his Gauntlet flashed brightly, for just a moment.  
What was that flash? Yami wondered. There had been magical energy flowing into the other boy's deck just before he drew his card. Then he played the card he had just drawn, without looking at it.  
"Well, I'll start off with the Ancient Elf. Ancient Elf, Ancient Spell!"  
The slightly stronger elf destroyed the gaurdian, dealing 50 damage to Yami's LP. Yami evened the score with Gamma, who was quickly destroyed by Akari's Rogue Doll. This was turning out to be a very dull match for Yami; the only thing to keep him occupied were the flashes of light Akari's Gauntlet emitted with each card he drew. He decided to pick up the pace.  
"I'll play Beta, the Magnet Warrior, in attack mode! Beta, attack Rogue Doll!" Beta was one of the strongest monsters Yugi's deck contained that did not require sacrifices; Yami doubted Akari could defeat it without offering any sacrifices himself.  
"That monster is good," Akari said. "I guess I'll have to match it. Go, Neo, the Magic Swordsman." The sword-wielding spellcaster came forth. Its attack matched Beta's exactly.  
"And I'll also play one card face down. That ends my turn."  
"I'll play one card face down," Yami began, "and then... I'll offer Beta as a sacrifice to summon Curse of Dragon! Curse of Dragon, attack!"  
Akari shook his head. "Ah, ah, ah. No killing poor Neo. Activate trap: Mirror Force!"  
Yami grimaced as the Dragon's flame rebounded on it, destroying it. Akari was grinning widely at him.  
"Now your dragon is destroyed, and the field is open for your defeat. I'll summon my mighty Dunames Darkwitch, and directly attack your life points with both my monsters!"  
Yami was in trouble now. He had fallen to only 350 life points, while Akari still had 3850. He had to put up some sort of defense. He drew a card. Perfect! "I'll summon the Big Shield Gardna in defense mode. And, I'll lay one card face down on the field. Let's see you get through that!"  
Akari sighed. "I don't have anything strong enough to deal with that right now, so I'll play a monster in defense mode and end my turn."  
"Now it's my turn," said Yami. He drew his next card and smiled at it. I'll offer Giant Soldier of Stone to the Summoned Skull. And then, I'll activate the card I played last turn-Stop Defense, on your face down card."  
"No!" cried Akari, a bit frightened. "My Mystical Elf!"  
The elven guardian appeared and straigtened into a fighting pose. Yami laughed.  
"While the Mystical Elf is very powerful in defense mode, it it no match for my Summoned Skull when it is put in attack mode. Summoned Skull, Lightning Strike!"  
The Elf was annihilated, and Akari's life points sunk to 2150. Yami expected anger from the other boy, but was surprised to see his opponent smiling at him.  
"The Summoned Skull is very good," he said sweetly, as though speaking to a young child. "I don't know how I'll ever stop it. Oh, wait, maybe with this."  
Akari drew his next card, Gauntlet flashing again, and lifted it in the air.  
"I'll offer both my monsters on the field to my personal favorite: the mighty Wingweaver!"  
"Wingweaver?" Yami asked. Soon, however, he did not have to wonder about what was coming. Akari's Duel Disk was processing the summoning, producing a huge, six-winged angel. Its attack was 2750, enough to beat almost any monster in his deck. This would not be good, if he hadn't noticed one thing.  
"You knew what that card was before you even looked at it," said Yami. "How could you know a card you hadn't seen... unless you're cheating?"  
"Hey, yeah," said Joey. "Yugi, he hasn't been looking at any of his cards, just playing them! This guy's a creep."  
Akari, rather than panicking, just sighed and laughed. "I guess you've noticed my Gauntlet's power, eh? Perfect luck."  
"What?" Yami asked, a bit taken aback.  
Akari grinned at him menacingly. "My luck. It's perfect. As long as I wear this Gauntlet, nothing is left up to chance. Here, I'll even draw a card for you."  
Akari walked over to where Yami was standing. "What card would you like, sir?"  
"Uhh, the Dark Magician," Yami said, surprised. Akari concentrated, drew the top card of Yami's deck, and handed it to him. It was indeed Yugi's favorite monster, the Dark Magician.  
"Alright," Akari said. "That card is a gift. It won't take up your draw or anything, 'cause I don't care about you getting one more card. Now, allow me to get on with your defeat. Wingweaver, Heavenwing Strike!"  
The wings of the angel glowed, and it flapped them with great force, producing a devastating wind that destroyed the Summoned Skull. Yami felt a bit frighened. Could he really be drawing whatever he wants? he wondered. If he is, how can I beat him...? Well, with only 100 life points left, I can't take any chances. 


	4. Duel Ends

"It's your turn, Yugi," said Akari. "Are you going to do anything, or just sit here wating to lose?"  
"I will not lose to you!" Yami said defiantly, but he looked at his deck worriedly. I need to hold him off. Heart of the Cards, give me strength!  
He drew his next card, hopefully. Perfect! He spoke aloud. "I play Magic Rift, allowing each player to summon a Magician type monster from their hand."  
Akari grimaced a bit. "The best I can do is Neo the Magic Swordsman."  
"And I summon the Dark Magician!" Yami said.  
"What good will it do you?" Akari asked. "It's not as strong as my Wingweaver. I'll just destroy it next turn."  
"Not if you can't find it!" Yugi replied, grinning. "I activate the Magical Hats magic card! Not even your 'perfect luck' can tell you which hat my magician is under. It's your move."  
Akari sighed. "So, you're stalling for time. Probably trying to draw the exact cards you need. Well, you're right. I can't do a lucky guess with my Gauntlet. But I can pump up my Wingweaver, to make sure that nothing you have coming can stop me. I play the Silver Bow and Arrow, increasing my Wingweaver's attack by 300. Wingweaver, attack the left hat!"  
"Wrong guess," said Yami, grinning.  
It was not the first one. Each turn, Akari played an extra monster and blasted the wrong hat. Finally, there remained only one hat.  
"You have failed once more," Yami said.  
"Yes," Akari replied, "but now you have only one place left that your Magician could hide. On my next turn, I will exact my vengeance upon you."  
"Not if I can stop you first!" Yami drew a card, hoping against hope... and yes! This was the one. He grinned at Akari. "And I have just the card to stop you. Go, Swords of Revealing Light!"  
"Hmm..." Akari said, unconcerned.  
"And now," Yami said, "my Magician will attack your Magic Swordsman!"  
Akari was obviously unimpressed.  
"Oh, my," he said, sounding very bored. "I'll draw, and set a monster in defense mode. Then, I'll play Survival of the Fittest! As long as it's in play, only the monster on the field with the highest attack points can attack. So unless you can play a monster whose attack is higher than 3050, you can't attack."  
"Don't worry," Yami said. "I'll do just that." He drew his card, to discover the Book of Secret Arts. He'd need this later.  
Akari's next turn was uneventful. He drew a card and played a monster in defense mode. Yami drew his next card and looked at it. Good! Only one left...  
"I'll set one card face down, and end my turn," he said.  
Akari shrugged. "Well, this is the last turn I can't attack. So go ahead; take your last turn."  
If I don't draw the card I need, this could be my last turn, Yami thought to himself. Come on, deck, don't let me down! He drew a card. Yes! This was it!  
"I'll activate my face-down card," Yami began, "the Dark Magic Ritual! I then scrifice both my monsters to summon the almighty Magician of Black Chaos!"  
The greatest of all Magicians appeared quite spectacularly. Akari even took a step back, in awe of it.  
"And now," Yami said, "I'll play the Book of Secret Arts, increasing the Magician's attack by 300 points!  
Akari stumbled back, shocked. "But...that makes him..."  
"Stronger than your Wingweaver," Yami grinned. "Now, Magician of Black Chaos, Chaos Scepter Strike!"  
The Wingweaver was destroyed. Yami figured that his opponent would snarl at him, and threaten him, as so many others had. But Akari's reaction shocked him. The other boy fell slowly to his knees. After a moment, Yami realized that Akari was crying a bit. Now he looked far more like Yugi; he seemed smaller, his eyes more innocent.  
"Uh, are you okay?" Yami asked.  
"How dare you destroy my beloved Wingweaver..." Akari hissed, regaining his composure. He slowly began taking a card out of his hand. "Who are you? I'm talking to you, Spirit! WHO ARE YOU?!?"  
Yami shrugged. "My name is Yami."  
Akari stopped dead. "Yami? The...the ancient Pharaoh Yami?"  
"That's what Ishizu said."  
"Then... you... you are my ancestor... from whom I inheirited the destiny of Vengeance." Akari's head slumped. "I must have been wrong. Whatever those men did, it must have merited your reaction."  
He chose another card from his hand. "I summon Spirit of the Harp, in attack mode."  
Now that was just about the dumbest move Yami had ever seen anyone make. He knew Akari was a skilled duelist, which meant that this was his way of giving up. Well, Yami would let him. "Magician, finish him off. Destroy the Spirit."  
  
"Here," Akari said to Yugi after the duel. He took off his Gauntlet. "You won. Take my Gauntlet, but please...take good care of it, and use it to uphold justice."  
"No, keep it," Yugi said. Akari shook his head sadly.  
"It was my ante for the duel. It is only right and honorable to give it to you. And I pride myself on my honor."  
"But you didn't have to lose, did you?" Yugi asked him.  
Akari was shocked.  
"You had another card you were about to play, but when you realized that the Duel was unjust, you made an amatuer move that led directly to your defeat. I wouldn't take a prize from a duelist who wasn't giving it his all."  
Akari smiled and paused. Then he said, "Thank you, Yugi. I will not forget this."  
He started to walk into the shop.  
"Akari!" Yugi cried. "Where are you going?"  
Akari smiled at him. "I never finished buying cards from your Grandfather. See you at the Tournament." 


	5. Epilogue

"Your grandson won."  
"Oh, really?" the old man asked casually, ringing up a few of the boy's choice cards. "Well he's quite a duelist."  
"That he is. But I have a problem, sir."  
"What's that?" he asked.  
"Well, Yugi did not take the reward offered to him, should he win the duel," Akari said. "A kind act, sure, but an assault on my honor. So... show me your Blue-Eyes."  
"What!?"  
"Your Blue-Eyes White Dragon," he said forcefully. "Get it out. NOW!"  
Solomon was shocked enough that he started to obey.  
"Well, it's torn..." he began. Then Akari snatched it out of his hand. "Hey! Give that back. What are you doing!?"  
The card glowed, and Akari tossed it back on the table. Solomon looked at it, and cried out in happy surprise. "Aaahh!"  
"The joy you feel over this will be enough reward for Yugi," Akari said. "But please, don't tell him."  
For the Blue-Eyes White Dragon of Solomon Moto... was no longer a damaged card. 


End file.
